The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, October 2019 Volume 9 Issue 4, p. 546-554 NARRATIVES OF A DESIGNER’S COLLECTION: FASHION SHOWS AND ARTISTIC APPLICATIONS Sanem ODABAŞI Eskişehir Technical University, Turkey [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8467-9038 ABSTRACT Fashion weeks are of significant importance since in addition to new designs to present, within those weeks a fashion shows’ effect sometimes moves ahead of the designs. When collections are completed, fashion designers introduce them through the “fashion show,” a field used to present their collection ideas in an impressive and striking manner. Through this form, the designer employs performative presentation to help put across the intellectual message, the allure of a fashionable creation, or to mediate diverse creations in a visual way as a collection. Fashion shows have a strong impact due to the atmosphere created which is surrounded by music, video art, performance and stage design. These 20-25 minute shows represent the whole collection through the background idea of the collection and designer’s inner world, by using colors, textures, stories, forms and visuals. Thus, an artistic approach is key when designing a show in order to reveal the collection’s idea in its most relevant form. The aim of this paper is to examine how fashion shows are curated by artistic applications and to reveal the ways of narrating stories which are not written but are conveyed to communities through performative presentations. In this respect, an interpretative approach was adopted and related artistic applications from contemporary examples held between 2013 and 2018 were analyzed as part of narrating a collection. The finding of this study is that the audience has gained a new role as becoming participants in the fashion shows themselves with the opportunities offered by technological developments which creates new meanings for the fashion shows. It is understood that the function of fashion shows is now changing from a means of promotional to audience communication. Keywords: Fashion Shows, Fashion and Art, Fashion and Technology, Narratives of Fashion. TASARIMCININ KOLEKSİYON ANLATILARI: MODA GÖSTERİLERİ VE SANATSAL UYGULAMALAR ÖZ Moda haftaları, yeni tasarımların sunuluyor olmasının yanı sıra, etkisinin bazen tasarımların önüne de geçebildiği ciddi bir öneme sahiptir. Moda tasarımcıları koleksiyonlarını tamamladığında, koleksiyonun ana fikrini etkin ve çarpıcı bir biçimde sergilemek için tasarımlarını “moda gösterileri” aracılığıyla sunmaktadır. Bu yöntemle tasarımcı, düşünsel mesajını, koleksiyonun büyüsünü iletmek veya farklı yaratıları bir koleksiyon olarak görsel bir şekilde ifade etmek amacıyla performatif bir sunum kullanır. Bu yönüyle moda gösterileri, müzik, video sanatı, performans ve sahne tasarımı ile çevrelenmesinden ötürü güçlü bir etkiye sahiptir. Bu 20-25 dakika süren gösteriler, renk ve dokular, hikâyeler, biçimler ve görseller kullanılarak tasarımcının iç dünyasını ve koleksiyonun arka planındaki fikirleri temsil etmektedir. Bu nedenle, koleksiyonun fikrini en uygun biçimde ortaya koymak için bir gösteri tasarlarken sanatsal bir yaklaşımda bulunmak önemlidir. Bu makalenin amacı moda gösterilerinin ne tür sanatsal uygulamalar gerçekleştirdiğini incelemek ve gösterilere ait yazılı olmayan, fakat performatif sunumlarla anlatılan hikâyelerin topluluklara hangi sunum şekilleriyle aktarıldığını ortaya koymaktır. Bu doğrultuda, yorumsamacı bir yaklaşım benimsenmiş olunup, konuyla ilişkin güncel örnekler 2013-2018 yılları arasında düzenlenen moda gösterilerindeki sanatsal Submit Date: 03.04.2019, Acceptance Date: 04.08.2019, DOI NO: 10.7456/10904100/006 546 Research Article - This article was checked by Turnitin Copyright © The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, October 2019 Volume 9 Issue 4, p. 546-554 uygulamalardan elde edilerek koleksiyon anlatımının bir parçası olarak incelenmiştir. Makalenin bulgusu, teknolojik gelişmelerin sunduğu olanaklarla yeni anlamlar kazanan moda gösterilerindeki izleyicinin performansı gözlemleyen kişi olmaktan sıyrılarak, moda gösterilerine bizzat katılan kişi olarak yeni bir rol edindiği üzerinedir. Moda gösterilerinin işlevinin artık tanıtım araçlarından farklılaşarak, izleyiciyle iletişim kurma yönünde değiştiği anlaşılmaktadır. Anahtar kelimeler: Moda Gösterileri, Moda ve Sanat, Moda ve Teknoloji, Moda Anlatıları. INTRODUCTION London, Paris, New York, and Milan are known to be the four main centers of fashion, and within their fashion weeks are intense events where designers offer their fall-winter, spring-summer and resort collections. The major shows in those cities are often covered on tv news broadcasts, newspapers and magazines. Fashion is clearly seen as important enough to warrant such a lavish degree of attention-or it is all the attention that makes fashion important (Svendsen, 2006: 10). Fashion weeks contain several exciting events that represent their character; creating new design-oriented values, revealing new collections by the designers, new details or the use of an innovative material by a designer in a new collection, and the presentation of inventions. The overall magnificence and impressive atmosphere of fashion shows brings further dynamism to fashion weeks. They are of significant importance since in addition to the new designs presented, within those weeks the fashion shows’ effect sometimes moves ahead of the designs. Displaying a new collection from a designer in an artistic venue adds great excitement for the attending and viewing audience. Fashion shows have a strong impact due to their atmosphere, surrounded by music, video art, performance and stage design. These 20-25 minute shows represent the whole collection with the background idea of the collection and designer’s inner world through the use of colors, textures, stories, forms and visuals. Thus, an artistic approach is a necessity when designing a show in order to reveal the most notable character of a collection. In today’s fashion scene, it can be observed that fashion creates verbal stories an narratives by using different forms of art, and so fashion shows do too. For this reason, there is also a narrative to each fashion show which can be identified as a common share among people and social groups. The aim of this paper is to examine how fashion shows are curated by artistic applications and to reveal the ways of narrating stories which are not written but are conveyed to communities through performative presentations. In this respect, an interpretative approach was adopted and the related examples were analyzed and presented. In this paper, examples from different fashion shows are stipulated in order to a better understanding of the social interaction and situations as a process of interpretation (Marshall and Scott, 1999). To portray more contemporary examples, shows held between 2013 and 2018 are represented as the object of this paper, and fashion shows and their artistic application discussed as part of narrating a collection and theme. The shows that are chosen for this paper has their own unique features since they are using visual designs, cinematography, sculpture, music and poetry in contributing distinct and authentic value for each show. The fashion shows of Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, DKNY, Opening Ceremony, Viktor and Rolf, Kenzo and Marc Jacobs are discussed in this article due to their progressive touch in these fashion shows with the collaborations they made that created outstanding visual designs and artistic applications and the participation of the audience in fashion shows which can be stated as becoming a new phenomenon for 21st century. The interpretation of these shows that are mentioned has a key element for accumulating a deeper knowledge, for this reason, an analytical approach rather than a descriptive one was obtained for this paper within a textual expression. FASHION SHOWS The most artistic aspect of fashion is normally linked to its display (Svendsen, 2006: 98). The idea of dressing models, parading them down a catwalk, and premiering a new collection to the press was born out of the Chicago apparel marts of the early 1900’s. By the mid-1930’s, the shows were Submit Date: 03.04.2019, Acceptance Date: 04.08.2019, DOI NO: 10.7456/10904100/006 547 Research Article - This article was checked by Turnitin Copyright © The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC ISSN: 2146-5193, October 2019 Volume 9 Issue 4, p. 546-554 produced on a grand scale, and in the 1960’s, sound and light were integrated into runway productions (Duggan, 2001: 245). In Europe, based on the works of Charles Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, and Lucile (known as Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon), the concept of the fashion designer was pioneered in the early 20th century, with designers such as Lucile and Worth starting to organize fashion shows that employed professional models in order to promote their fashion houses (Arnold, 2009: 14). These designers scarcely have imagined how fashion shows would develop towards the end of the century (Svendsen, 2006: 98-99). Fashion shows have progressed immeasurably since, and today they significantly utilize performance arts and digital technologies in order to create different effects. The definition of a fashion show has been described as “a biannual